"For context, last week Facebook began showing users a prompt asking them to opt into "cloud processing," TechCrunch reported. Should you consent, this allows Facebook to grab stuff from your camera roll and upload it to Facebook's servers "on a regular basis" so it can generate recaps and "AI restylings" of your photos.
The important detail is that by opting in, Meta is asking you to agree to its AI terms, which state that, "once shared, you agree that Meta will analyze those images, including facial features, using AI." Meta would also gain the right to "retain and use" the information shared with its AI systems.
Your alarm bells should already be ringing. Any data that gets fed into an AI system runs the risk of being coughed up or reproduced in some shape or form. And asking for access to your entire camera roll so Meta's tech can "analyze" your photos is a huge and invasive escalation — it's shameless that Meta's even asking. Apparently, already using everyone's billions of Facebook and Instagram posts made since 2007 wasn't enough for Zuckerberg's tech juggernaut.
Moreover, Meta's AI terms don't make it clear if your unpublished camera roll photos it uses for "cloud processing" are safe from AI training. That's in stark contrast with the terms outlined for apps like Google Photos, the Verge noted, which explicitly state that your personal info won't be used as training data."
https://futurism.com/meta-sketchy-training-ai-private-photos
#AI #GenerativeAI #AITraining #Meta #Privacy #DataProtection
"On its face, that might sound not altogether different from Google Photos, which similarly might suggest AI tweaks to your images after you opt into Google Gemini. But unlike Google, which explicitly states that it does not train generative AI models with personal data gleaned from Google Photos, Meta’s current AI usage terms, which have been in place since June 23, 2024, do not provide any clarity as to whether unpublished photos accessed through “cloud processing” are exempt from being used as training data — and Meta would not clear that up for us going forward.
And while Daniels and Cubeta tell The Verge that opting in only gives Meta permission to retrieve 30 days worth of your unpublished camera roll at a time, it appears that Meta is retaining some data longer than that. “Camera roll suggestions based on themes, such as pets, weddings and graduations, may include media that is older than 30 days,” Meta writes.
Thankfully, Facebook users do have an option to turn off camera roll cloud processing in their settings, which, once activated, will also start removing unpublished photos from the cloud after 30 days.
The feature suggests a new incursion into our previously private data, one that bypasses the point of friction known as conscientiously deciding to post a photo for public consumption. And according to Reddit posts found by TechCrunch, Meta’s already offering AI restyling suggestions on previously-uploaded photos, even if users hadn’t been aware of the feature: one user reported that Facebook had Studio Ghiblified her wedding photos without her knowledge."
https://www.theverge.com/meta/694685/meta-ai-camera-roll